NATO Fighter Jets Shoot Down Drone Over Eastern Latvia

NATO fighter jets shot down a drone after it entered eastern Latvian airspace on Friday, according to Latvia’s armed forces and the alliance. Two Italian Eurofighters were scrambled and one destroyed the aircraft over the Balvi region. Two Turkish F-16s were also deployed under NATO command. Latvia issued an air alert covering several eastern and southern areas, urging residents to stay indoors, before it was lifted at 4:50 a.m. local time. Authorities said the drone was a “foreign unmanned aerial vehicle” that entered Latvia as a result of Russian electromagnetic warfare, and NATO said an investigation was underway. Latvia did not immediately identify the drone as Ukrainian, though jamming raised the possibility it had been diverted. Finland briefly restricted airspace and a sea area in the eastern Gulf of Finland as a precaution, then lifted it after no drones were detected.